Sunday, May 14, 2017

Light at the end of the tunnel?

The waiting game continues for Anders at Base Camp and the rest of his team down in Pangboche.

Two pieces of good news: 1. we've heard that the line fixing sherpas are up at the South Col and presumably with descent weather over the next two days, they'll have a good shot at getting lines fixed to the summit. There does seem to be some optimism that s short window will open up, hopefully enough to get the lines to the summit. 2. It looks like a decent window might open up a week or so from now. Here is a snapshot of that window:

Anders sent along a couple of pics. First, he climbed up to Pumori's Base Camp yesterday--this is above 19,000 feet and he did the climb from Base Camp in two hours door-to-door (this is very fast). In this picture, you can see Base Camp some 1,500 feet below:

Here is pic from the same place he took back when I hiked with him. The black triangle of Everest proper is peaking over the West shoulder on the left. The upper part of Lhotse, and it's big Face is dead center--you can see the South Col between Lhotse and Everest. Nuptse on the right in the foreground:

Finally a picture of a bit of a traffic jam from their last passage through the Ice Fall. Crowds and how to avoid them will be a major challenge with the late window--more on that later:

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About Me

I'm 59 years old and live in Greenville, DE with my awesome wife of 30+ years, Judy. We have four kids: Anders, Jenny, Kara and Alex.
Long ago, I was a runner and at one point ran a 2:48 marathon. Family and career intervened and I have been a triathlete for the past 14 years. I've raced in 146 triathlons, of which 35+ have been Long Course. Thirteen of these have been IronMan races including Kona in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
I'm racing on borrowed time as I have a very bad left knee that requires me to get Syn-Visc injections every 3 months. My ortho is a good man but wishes I'd take up golf.
However, I am blessed to be pursuing my triathlon dreams alongside my son, Anders. We've had some fantastic experiences together in Australia, Spain, France, Austria and Denmark as well as in many places in the States. In the beginning, I was the teacher but more and more it is I who have become the student. I've certainly dropped to the number 2 triathlete in the household. I couldn't be happier and I am truly blessed to race Ironman and other triathlons alongside my son, at least for a few more years!